CHAPTER 40
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 1-2
1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 1-2
This is another promise from God that Jesus has already accomplished our warfare with satan, and we are free, not only of our own sins, but of our bondage to satan, because Jesus received our punishment from the Father’s hand double for our sins.
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 3
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 3
This is, of course, describing the appearance of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4;). When Jesus identified John with these words, He knew that anyone who was familiar with scripture (including the pharisees) would recognize this as the time of the coming of the Messiah. But, in the sense of this writing, within ourselves, it represents the Holy Spirit working in our hearts to cause us to repent, to make a way for us to give ourselves to Our Lord, Our Messiah, Jesus Christ.
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 4
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 4
The valleys and hills of our emotions and desires can be leveled and made smooth in peace and love by Jesus.
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 5
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 5
The word translated “glory” means to be heavy, weighty, with the good things from God. All of God’s gifts and promises of victory through Christ are revealed through the Holy Spirit right now!!
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 6-8
6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 6-8
We people are nothing of ourselves, we are temporary, weak and fragile alone, but with the Word of God and faith behind it, we are strong! (Psalms 90:5; 1Peter 1:24; James 1:10; Deuteronomy 17&18) What can we announce to others, when we are but withering grass ourselves? We can only proclaim Our Lord!
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 9
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 9
We must proclaim the Lord in word and action. We are just withering grass, and have nothing to say, but we CAN and MUST proclaim Our Lord! He it is Who saves!
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 10-11
10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 10-11
And, when we proclaim the Lord to others, He will step in and show Himself to them, as Savior and Shepherd. Jesus, Our Shepherd and Loving leader! (Hebrews 13:20; John 10:11).
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 12-17
12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him?
14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 12-17
In apparent contrast to the previous scriptures, which show the gentleness and protection of the Lord, these verses emphasize His tremendous Power, Wisdom, and Greatness, which we cannot comprehend. It is astounding that a Being this tremendous can love the littlest things about each of us!
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 18-24
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.”
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 18-24
Nothing man-made or in His creation comes near to His Greatness. Yet, leaders and citizens alike struggle and worry about the affairs of this world. He is in control of everything we could possibly imagine, yet, He is concerned with the littlest bug in the earth !!! (Luke 12: 6-7)
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 25-28
25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 25-28
Sometimes we claim we trust God, but still we worry and work as though we don’t. We must take time to think about His Greatness…….his Wisdom in all possible things we could think of. We are accustomed to thinking about things in the concept of time and human frailty…..the end of the day, the end of the job, the end of a life—–tiredness, weariness, and weakness. There is none of these things with God…..He is Forever Strong, forever Capable, and Forever in control!!!
SCRIPTURE: CHAPTER 40, VS 29-31
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
APPLICATION: CHAPTER 40, VS 29-31
Even the strongest of men get tired, but those that trust in God have His strength and will never tire, because they build the “muscles” of their spirit instead of their natural man. Eagles are used to denote the strength we get from God. Eagles get their ability from four things the Creator has given them: Tremendous eyesight, a sharp, curved beak that can tear into meat, strong wings to lift them gracefully and swiftly into the air, and sharp talons on their feet to hold down the meat as they tear it up. God has given us these weapons also. He has given us the eyes to see into spiritual things to know the powers, love, and duties he has for each of us, He gives us our mouths to tear into satan’s forces with the Word of God –The sharp Word of God that makes him back down when he hears “it is written”. He gives us strong wings to keep us above the things of this world. We must rise above our natural selves and the desires and temptations of this world with the wings He gives us. He also gives us a strong foundation for our feet, to hold satan and his demons down, as we tear into their lies and deception in the Mighty Name of Jesus. (Deuteronomy 32:11)
END OF CHAPTER 40